Break Bound

As happy as I am to be teaching (and I am!!!), I’m really looking forward to Spring Break. This whole week I’ve had my eyes set towards this Friday, our first day of a ten-day break. The last couple of months have been heavily focused on education and planning (both lessons and the wedding!) so a week off for relaxing on the beach is highly intriguing. However, knowing Kristin and myself, we are far too curious to sit around when there are jungles to be explored and birds to be heard (!). We’re going to Bali! Bali is another Indonesian island. It is a touristy place, but also a lot of area to explore. As most of Indonesia is Muslim, this island’s major religion is Hinduism. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say once we return.
My carpool team was all camping, so I had the pleasure of walking to school this week...at 6:10am. A beautiful walk. I couldn’t believe how warm it was already! The hustle and bustle of the city had already begun, and the workers were out in the streets, sweeping the leaves with their straw brooms. I walked the same path one of the evenings and couldn’t believe the number of toads frolicking along the path. I carefully placed my feet insuring their safe lives as well as my “clean” sandals. Even though my walks to and from school gave me the chance to reflect, I felt this week was rushed. There were a lot of things we had to get through in the curriculum department, therefore we pushed the kids, we pushed ourselves, and pushed some limits. I found myself exhausted day by day, maybe it was the heat but probably more of the on-your-toes working habits. Being alone back at the apartment gave me permission to work ahead on some of my lesson plans, which feels good too. Thankfully I still got out, ate supper, one night I went over to one of the other teacher’s house for supper, and then she helped me book the flights for our Spring Break adventure. Now the week is over! We leave for Bali on Saturday night (which for you who are reading this is most likely is early Saturday morning) and we return the following Friday. Palm Sunday will be spent on the island, under palm trees. An Easter I plan to remember! We understand that Easter is a Christian holiday and we are entering into a Hindu territory, so Easter is most likely not celebrated there. We’ll see what happens. We fly back on Good Friday, and have the rest of the Easter weekend back in Jakarta/Lippo Village to relax and look towards the week to come. The week back, I’ll be teaching around 75% of the day, woot!
I’ll be taking many pictures over the break, and hopefully will have the time to post them to give you a better idea of Indonesia. I can’t wait to discover more!

I pray a blessed Easter season to everyone as well. Not a season, but a lifelong awareness of God’s grace and sacrifice.
Love always.